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Doesn?t look like Apple?s relationship with Google?s getting much better these days, does it?
iOS 6 users are going to figure that out pretty quickly this week as they start using the revamped, Google-less Maps app on their iPhones and iPads. The reviews are in and many of them are not good (tip o? the antlers to Daring Fireball).
Apple?s new Maps application may be fine for the Macalope?s limited use, but it?s clear that, while it has its own appeal, it?s in many demonstrable ways not as good as the previous incarnation based on Google?s data. While it?s technically unclear who to blame for the breakup, it?s Apple?s app and the responsibility for it not working as well as it used to is on Cupertino.
OK, it?s not like you scroll to the left side of the Pacific Ocean and there?s a sea serpent and a sign the says ?HERE BE DRAGONS,? but ?
Actually, the Macalope doesn?t know that for sure. Has anyone checked?
Never fear, though. Google says its own map app is on the way. In the ?great business advice in history? category, TechCrunch?s Drew Olanoff says ?If I Were Google, I Wouldn?t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months.?
The Macalope thinks that?s a terrific idea! And right in its wheelhouse, too.
Google?s already shown it likes being the class clown when it bid the value of pi for the Nortel patents and lost and then had to pay billions more to acquire Motorola. Now it should show us that it likes cutting off its own nose to spite its face.
Does Olanoff not understand that Google makes money off of its map data? Previously Apple paid for it; under its own app, the company would make money by showing ads. Missing six months of ad revenue from a new iOS maps app would be another fantastic way of showing that Google?s head for business is, in fact, a cabbage.
On the patent front, Google has fired back at Apple by having Motorola ask the ITC to ban imports of all Macs, iPads and some iPhones because, it says, iMessage violate its software patents.
Wait, has anyone told Joe ?I?m boycotting Apple because it?s a patent bully and switching to Google? Wilcox? This is the problem with holier-than-thou posturing, Joe. It?s all fun and games until you find your mobile communications options are now either using smoke signals or grabbing two cans and some string. Don?t worry, though, Joe. Both of those are in the public domain. We?ll look forward to your smoke lambasting Google soon.
[Editors? Note: Each week the Macalope skewers the worst of the week?s coverage of Apple and other technology companies. In addition to being a mythical beast, the Macalope is not an employee of Macworld. As a result, the Macalope is always free to criticize any media organization. Even ours.]